


You Bake Me Crazy

by mysterKey



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Drinking, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, I'm so bad at tagging, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, Party, Pining, Promiscuity, Romance, Roommates, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:33:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25275469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysterKey/pseuds/mysterKey
Summary: "Why aren't they answering the fucking door? We know they're there!" Renjun grumbles. The little window at the top of their door shows that the light is on. And if they weren’t awake, someone would have to give them a talk about energy conservation. It went hand in hand with his rants about environmental protection."Have some patience would you Junnie?"As if on cue, the door swings open, a half-naked guy standing on the other side of it. His hair is sticking up in random places, the most likely result of a recent shower and what gave the trio the blessing of seeing the ripped body of a tanned god. They almost can’t help their jaws dropping slightly."Ah, fuck." The man looks around for anything in the vicinity to cover up, finding nothing he settles for hugging his body."Do you answer the door half-naked for everyone?" Renjun raises an eyebrow. Although his words are laced with criticism, his eyes are appreciative of the man in front of him.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin, Huang Ren Jun/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 7
Kudos: 66





	1. I'd Like a Slice of You

**Author's Note:**

> This is my project that I'm working on in between working on something for the '00 fic fest. This is actually based lightly on my real-life events. My housemates and I really did give our new neighbors cookies to try to see if they were students so we could throw a party and then we proceeded to partake in a bake war for the next year. It was really cute and fun. Hope you enjoy! (also this is unbeta'd bc i don't have friends in fandom)

"I can't believe we're doing this." Renjun grumbles, holding a tray of chocolate chip toffee cookies. They should have just given up after their first failed attempt at delivering the cookies. It wasn’t that serious anyway. Their landlord couldn’t evict them if one neighbor complained. 

"Come on, how else are we supposed to know if our neighbors are students or not?" There were actually many ways they could go about it, although Renjun's not quite sure if most of those options are legal. 

"I just can't believe we changed because of this." Donghyuck doesn't miss the minor glare Jaemin sends in his direction along with his statement. Prior to this, they were lounging around on the couch in their pajamas watching some lame romcom Donghyuck picked, enjoying their downtime before the semester really picked up. It wasn't until Donghyuck peeked out of the window to see if the neighbor's cars were parked in their spots that Jaemin insisted that they change and try to approach their neighbors for the second time that day.

Jaemin straightens the hem on his shirt, "We need to make a decent first impression."

The purpose behind this neighborly kindness isn't nearly as pure as they'd like to make it seem. It was their second year of living in this off-campus three-bedroom apartment together going into their senior year of college. Their neighbors last year moved out after graduation leaving the space next door vacant until the next inhabitants moved in. The real reason they were standing outside of their neighbors door with a tray of cookies was because they wanted to throw a party. 

By no means did the trio consider themselves party animals, but they loved to wind down every now and again. It was their last year of undergrad, being the only people out of their group of friends living off of campus gave them the prime opportunity to host a party every now and then. The problem with getting new neighbors off campus was that there was no way to know if those people were fellow university students without meeting them or the iconic parking tag hanging on their rearview mirror. And that’s what prompted them to devise a plan to gauge who their neighbors were. 

"Why aren't they answering the fucking door? We know they're there!" Renjun grumbles. The little window at the top of their door shows that the light is on. And if they weren’t awake, someone would have to give them a talk about energy conservation. It went hand in hand with his rants about environmental protection. 

"Have some patience would you Junnie?"

As if on cue, the door swings open, a half-naked guy standing on the other side of it. His hair is sticking up in random places, the most likely result of a recent shower and what gave the trio the blessing of seeing the ripped body of a tanned god. They almost can’t help their jaws dropping slightly. 

"Ah, fuck." The man looks around for anything in the vicinity to cover up, finding nothing he settles for hugging his body. 

"Do you answer the door half-naked for everyone?" Renjun raises an eyebrow. Although his words are laced with criticism, his eyes are appreciative of the man in front of him. 

The man's cheek turns an awfully cute shade of pink before he blubber, "Oh god no. My roommates are assholes and didn't want to get the door. I'm sorry." 

"Hi, we're your neighbors!" Donghyuck greets with a smile his eyes moving from the man’s abs to his face (which if he had to be honest was just as impressive as his body), remembering their purpose for this exchange. "We saw that you guys were new to the neighborhood and we just wanted to introduce ourselves to welcome you." 

The man’s eyes flicker down to the cookies in Renjun’s hands before his eyes scan the trio again, “You guys made us cookies? Guys!” The man turns behind him, “They made us cookies!” He pushes the door back more, revealing the two other inhabitants of the apartment huddled at a table in their kitchen. 

"What?" They scramble to the door.

In best friend fashion, they all swallow in unison. How did they manage to score such hot neighbors? The gods were working in their favor for once in their life. Hot guys moving in next door was a trope from shitty romcoms. Not something for the storyline of their lives. Not that the trio minded much, who would reject free eye candy? 

There was Specimen 1: the tanned hunky that opened the door with a goofy grin. Tall enough to climb - not that it was a requirement for them but it was certainly a bonus. Muscled enough to pick them up and fight for their honor. Don't even mention his abs because no ideas less than sinful could be running through their heads. 

Specimen 2: Round wire frames hugging his face, highlighting big brown eyes, blown up in surprise. The balls of his cheeks are high, the smile on his face lighting up his face. The oversized hoodie engulfs him, making him appear so much smaller and cuter than he probably was. His slightly curly fringe pokes out under his hood, falling over his glasses slightly. 

Specimen 3: a seemingly perfect mixture of the two prior specimens. Muscles bulging out of his muscle tee, glasses shielding his crescent-shaped eyes. He stood about the same height as specimen 2. Blonde hair just barely covering the top of his glasses. 

"Yeah, um, take them." Renjun shoves the tray in specimen one's direction. Of the three of them, Renjun was the worst when it came to dealing with the attention of attractive men. Tending to use insults as a shield and that normally worked if he knew the person in question but with strangers, he always managed to flounder. 

Jaemin and Donghyuck were the pros when it came to flirtation and honestly it made Renjun sick to his stomach how easily it came to them. They could bat an eyelash and have anyone fawning over them. Of the two of them, Jaemin used that fact to his advantage the most. Securing multiple conquests across campus while managing to avoid making enemies because he was just  _ that _ good at placating people. If they weren't friends, Renjun is sure that he'd hate Jaemin by now. Donghyuck on the other hand didn't use his skills to get sex, he used it to get favors. Conveniently being grouped with the best people in his classes for presentations or securing a role he'd been dying to get. Renjun himself isn't innocent but he doesn't go to those extremes either and that's why he looks to his friends for any saving from any further embarrassment.

Specimen 1 speaks before Jaemin can even save him, "Thank you so much. Oh wow. I'm Lucas, by the way." 

"Mark." Specimen 2. 

"Jeno." Specimen 3. 

"So do you guys go to SNU too?" Jaemin asks after they take their own turn introducing themselves. 

"Yeah, we're seniors." Perfect. "You guys?"

"Same." They speak in unison. 

“You guys know that we’re gonna have to bake you something in return, right?” 

“God, please don’t.” Renjun groans. This was supposed to be a one-time thing. They find out that their neighbors are in fact students, they throw their party, the end. That was how it was supposed to be.

“No no no, this is amazing. Seriously we have to return the favor.” Mark insists. 

“Well, we’re going to go back inside. We’re all busy people.” 

“Nice meeting you guys.” Mark waves them off. 

They settle back on the couch, taking a breath for a few seconds before Jaemin speaks, “Is it just me or are our neighbors hot as fuck?”

“Please don’t remind me about Lucas’ body, okay?” Renjun groans.

"Dude, even I'll be dreaming about his body tonight." Donghyuck laments. 

"We're fucked but hey at least we can throw our party?" 

Donghyuck is home alone when the doorbell rings. For a second he thinks that it's a figment of his imagination before it rings another time seconds later. It couldn't be Renjun or Jaemin, if they wanted to be let into the house they would have texted the group chat before even reaching the door. Any of their other close friends had the passcode to their front door and would've let themselves in after sending one of them a text. 

Donghyuck heads to the door, a slouchy hoodie pulled tightly around his neck, peeking out of the blinds before choosing to open the door. He's been roped into one too many conversations with Mormons to be stupid enough to open the door without checking who was behind it first. On the other side of the door stands Mark and Lucas, a Tupperware container clutched tightly in Mark's hands.

He opens the door with a smile taking in the two men before him. Lucas should consider modeling as a career, he muses. His long legs in ripped denim, with a fitted navy t-shirt. His hair is mussed up to perfectly show off his beautiful face. A tiny cross earring dangling from his earlobe. While Mark didn't have the height to be a model, he too was nothing short of good looking. This time his hair is straight, his fringe covering his brows. Dressed in jeans and a band tee Donghyuck doesn't recognize. 

"Hey?" Donghyuck greets them, suddenly remembering that he probably looks disgusting in his pair of ratty basketball shorts and a hoodie he should probably have washed lady week. 

"We made you brownies." Mark spits out, pushing the container in front of Donghyuck. The man isn't wearing his glasses today, giving Donghyuck a better view of his round eyes. 

"By we, Mark means he." Lucas clarifies. "Jeno and I are decent in the kitchen but baking is Mark's territory." 

Mark awkwardly chuckles, "Full disclaimer, I don't know how to cut brownies so it could be a mess in there. And I'm also not very good at baking but the guys tried it and they haven't died so at the very least you won't be poisoned."

"Oh my god. You really didn't have to." Fuck, not only are they hot but they're nice? A true miracle. Three unicorns on a college campus full of assholes. Is there such a thing as anti-karma? Doing dubious things only after it to turn around in your favor? 

"We wanted to say thank you for the cookies which were really good by the way." 

"Yeah, Jaemin is the resident Baker. He bakes when he's stressed out and my blood sugar levels haven't been the same since freshman year." Donghyuck jokes. Back then, Jaemin took up baking to try to impress a girl. While it worked momentarily, the girl didn't stick around but the hobby did.

"We don't have a resident baker, or at least not a good one, but we try our best?" Mark offers, nudging the brownies closer to Donghyuck so that he can take it. 

He accepts the Tupperware with a smile, "Really, you guys didn't have to." 

"We wanted to though." 

"We also wanted to see if you guys wanted to come over tomorrow night? We have games? And a Switch? And beer?" Mark stutters, "Not that you have to drink or anything. We wouldn't force you to. But in case you wanted to?" 

"Mark, I think he gets it." 

"Yeah, that would be great! My roommates aren't home but I'll let them know." 

"Awesome! So we'll see you tomorrow night?" 

"Yeah, tomorrow night!" The moment Donghyuck locks the door, he places the brownies on the kitchen table and scurries back to his room in search of his phone. 

**BAD BITCHES IN THE HOUSE**

**Haechan** : 

GUYS

FUcK

GUYS 

MAYDAY 

GUYS

WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING 

GUYS

**Nana** :

WHAT

**Jun** : 

WHY ARE YOU SPAMMING 

WHAT THE FUCK 

YOU ARE NOT THE CENTER OF MY WORLD

**Haechan** : 

THE NEIGHBORS

THEY MADE US BROWNIES

**Nana** : 

WHAT 

**Haechan** : 

BROWNIES

NEIGHBORS

MAKE

**June:**

Oh my god 

**Nana** : 

Oh my gosh 

**Haechan:**

They invited us over tomorrow night to play games

And now we have to go because they're nice! 

Fuck 

**Jun** : 

Fuck, we need to be social 

I just wanted to throw a party

**Nana** : 

Are they trying to start a baking war? Because they're on.

**Jun** : 

Please no

**Nana** : 

I'm already coming up with ideas

Did you at least try the brownies? 

**Haechan** : 

No. I had to tell you guys this in an urgent manner. 

By the way OUR NEIGHBORS ARE FUCKING HOT

**Nana** :

Try the fucking brownies idiot 

**Haechan:**

Dude I looked fucking disgusting opening the door and they looked like models? 

Why the fuck does my life work like this 

**Jun** :

Unfortunately for you scientists have yet to find the cure for ugly so you're out of luck

**Haechan:**

FUCK YOU

“Just ring the doorbell.”

“You do it.” 

The next night they end up in front of their neighbor’s door, Renjun and Jaemin shoving each other towards the doorbell. 

Donghyuck huffs moving past them to reach for the doorbell, “Stop being children.” 

It takes a minute before the door flies open, Mark’s head peeking out from behind it. "Oh hey! We didn't know if you guys were still going to come because it was getting late." 

"I'm a dumbass and didn't ask what time we should come over." In Donghyuck’s defense, he was too thrown off by the fact that they made them brownies in the first place for his brain to function properly. 

"Plus Jaemin and I were suffering in the library later than we intended," Renjun adds. 

"Come in! We were just watching a movie." 

Their apartment is warm and homey. Despite only having moved in a week ago, it looks lived in. Comic book posters on the wall, bean bag chairs strewn around the living rooms, stuffed animals on the couch. White fairy lights strewn along the wall creating an ambiance. A real boyish charm. 

"Welcome to our home," Lucas says, stretched out on one of the bean bags. The boys are dressed more comfortably than the day before, but not nearly as bummed out as they were the first day that they met. If Renjun and Jaemin hadn’t spent last night hunting the three down on social media, Donghyuck is sure that they’d never believe how attractive they were when they cleaned up. “Make yourself comfortable.” 

If you were to ask Donghyuck about it later, he had no part in the social media stalking, despite the fact that his roommates were cuddled up on his bed showing him every interesting thing that they discovered. 

The easiest specimen and the one with the most plentiful information online was Lucas. Or as his Instagram profile said “Lucas/ Wong Yukhei/ Huang Xuxi, just call me Lucas. PT Class of 2021,” followed by a Hong Kong, Chinese, and Thai flag. Renjun had exclaimed something about him being Chinese before he continued to scroll. From the looks of it, Lucas was the most popular, his public Instagram account sporting twenty thousand followers, not the following of your average college student. His Insta feed though was the typical college senior, silly photos of him with friends at various events, sprinkled in with some modelesque photos showing off his physique. There were a lot of pictures of Mark and Jeno, the evolution of their friendship apparent. His twitter was mostly filled with memes and dumb after midnight tweets. 

Next, they had Jeno, whose Instagram was mostly animal-related or clinical rotation related. He didn’t post nearly as much as Lucas but when he did, he made sure to post quality photos. A solid five thousand followers was nothing to be ashamed of for someone who didn’t post too often. There were a couple of gym photos with Lucas, or as Jaemin screamed “thirst traps.” Photos of scenery from his biking adventures. Him snuggled up comfortably with dogs and cats. There were also photos from when he apparently rushed for a fraternity with Mark and Lucas, which was unexpected for the trio.

Now Mark was elusive, his Instagram private. From what they can gauge from that, he either just started his Instagram or he rarely posts with only twenty posts on his Instagram. At just over a thousand followers but only personally following 127 people, he was either well-liked or followed just about anyone who requested him. What came up with a quick google search was Mark’s coding team winning a regional competition. Cute, smart, and kind? A trifecta that just didn’t exist. 

"Thank you for the brownies by the way. They were really good. We brought back your Tupperware." Renjun settles on the couch in between Jaemin and Donghyuck. It was a comfort thing, sticking together in the event that they needed to bolt. 

"Thank god." Mark releases a sigh of relief. 

Jeno laughs from where he’s seated on the ground, "Mark almost burned down the apartment on his first attempt so god bless." 

"We don't talk about my failures, Jeno." 

"Dude, the recipe literally called for three ingredients and you forgot one of them!" That elicits a chuckle from their guests. 

"You could have volunteered to bake the brownies but no you just watched me struggle." 

"In my defense, it was entertaining." 

"Fuck you." Mark glares, but there's no force behind his voice. "The next time you bomb one of your exams don't expect me to console you with food." 

"You'd probably kill me anyways which in that case I'll be grateful towards you." 

Mark sighs, defeated, "That's the downside of having friends in the health profession, they all welcome death." 

"Dude, tell me about it." Donghyuck chuckles, "the number of times I hear these guys say end me should be alarming and yet they’re still here." 

"What are your majors?" Jeno asks. 

"Also do you guys want anything to drink?" Mark offers, making his way into the kitchen," We have water, beer, a shit ton of milk for protein shakes if you're into that. Uhhh more beer."

"Nah, we're good and I'm in the nursing program." Despite being in their fourth year, Jaemin was in his last years of nursing school thanks to the accelerated program in their school. Clinicals kept him up to his neck in work but the experience was nothing short of gratifying. 

"Pharmaceutical sciences. Contemplating going to pharmacy school or med school. Might just go into drug development, who knows? I definitely don't." Renjun could really accomplish anything he put his mind to but the decision itself was anxiety-inducing. 

"Economics. I want to be a financial analyst." 

"You're a finance major?" Mark settles back down on the armchair, handing Lucas a beer on his way back. 

"What?" Donghyuck raises an eyebrow at him, amused. "Does that seem too hard to believe?" If you had asked twelve-year-old Donghyuck what he wanted to be he would have said famous with some dazzling movement and the wink of an eye. Nearing twenty-two-year-old Donghyuck is moderately more realistic in his dreams and is content with pursuing his passions as a hobby instead of a career. 

"No, no. That’s not what I meant.” Mark sputters, ”I just swear I've seen you in the school's drama productions."

"Yeah, that was me." He confirms laughing at a slightly embarrassed Mark, "Theater is my minor. A passion of mine if you will. You're into the school’s theater productions?"

Mark shakes his head, "Not really. My brother's boyfriend was big into the productions when he went here so I got dragged to a lot of shows."

"Who's your brother's boyfriend?" Donghyuck asks, perking up. The theater department wasn’t too large, most people knew each other and if they didn’t have direct contact then more often than not people knew someone who knew someone. 

"He went by Ten?" 

"Oh my god, I love Ten.” Donghyuck raves, clasping his hands together. “My icon. So your brother is Johnny?" Donghyuck didn’t know Johnny well, but he did spend a lot of time with Ten and they were the cutest couple at the time. 

"Yeah. Small world, I guess." 

"What are your majors?"

"I'm in our school's three plus four program for dentistry. Which means I’m going to be here forever." No wonder Jeno had such a nice smile and that explained the scrubs from his Instagram. 

"I have a BS in exercise science and I'm in my first year of the physical therapy program." Lucas says.

Mark answers, "Comp sci with a minor in math because I hate myself." 

"Gross." Donghyuck grimaces as if he didn’t already gather this fact last night. Comp sci seemed so unlike Mark. For one thing, Mark seemed nice. Not a common characteristic of the comp sci majors he interacted with in the past. Two, Mark was cute. Also not a common feature of comp sci boys. 

"On the bright side, at least I'm not an engineering asshole.' That, they could all agree with. 

"I'm surprised that you guys are in the majors you're in. You all seem like…" Renjun pauses, trying to think of a word that wouldn't be insulting. 

"Like frat boys?" Lucas completes the sentence. 

Renjun raises his hands in defense, "You said it, not me." Renjun deserves an oscar for his acting. 

"That's because we are frat boys." Lucas laughs. "You're looking at the former VP of Psi Gamma Rho."

"No wonder we didn't know you. We avoid frat boys like the plague. Save for the couple of frat parties we've been to." Jaemin lies. Jaemin has slept with his fair share of frat boys in their freshmen year, but he never went to the parties hosted by the bros he’s fucked. It was his undisclosed rule. And by that rule, it quickly decreased the number of frat parties that the trio could attend. 

"It's a professional frat so it's not as bad as the average greek life. And I'd like to think that I'm not a massive dick head. I can't say much about these other two." Jeno pelts a Kirby plush at Lucas’ head, the man narrowly dodging the toy. “I’m kidding. Mark’s alright. Jeno on the other hand, yikes.”

“You are so lucky there isn’t another stuffed animal near me.” 

"So is that how you met? Rushing?" Jaemin probes.

"Nah. Jeno and I met at freshmen orientation. Mark and I met because I was freaking out over calculus not even a week into the semester. Where am I going to use integrals as a physical therapist?" Lucas huffs at the memory of his suffering. “We were all pretty shocked when we ended up at the same rushing event. Haven’t separated ever since.” 

"What about you guys?'

"Jaemin and I have known each other for too long." Donghyuck still remembers the day he met the overly excited twelve-year-old. Jaemin just moved to the same school and declared that Donghyuck was going to be his first friend at school because Donghyuck looked cool. To Donghyuck’s utter dismay, Jaemin really did never let up. 

"I like to say that God put Haechan in my life to challenge me."

Donghyuck side-eyes the man sitting next to him, “You literally forced me to be your friend when we were kids. You’re lucky I haven’t gotten rid of you yet.” 

“And then all three of us met at a party. “ They don’t really party much these days but in their freshmen year they frequented quite a few because that was what college was supposed to be about right? It seemed innocent enough but it wasn’t quite that way on that actual night. The second that Renjun stepped into that dark and smokey room it was as if a ray of sunshine entered. They wouldn’t have called themselves smitten with Renjun, more enamored by him. Renjun, both then and now, is stunning. It’s hard not to pay attention to him even when he’s not doing anything out of the ordinary. 

They didn’t like to call it a competition because it made them sound like assholes. At the basis of it though, that’s exactly what it was. A competition to see who could get “the stranger” to make out with them first. Jaemin won the competition, he was more forward with his advances while Donghyuck liked to take his time. Later that night though, Jaemin finds the pair making out at the top of the stairs. It was a prettier sight than he’d like to admit. Most people would be upset that an informal bet would be made with them in mind, but most people aren’t Renjun. Renjun had planted a kiss on Jaemin’s lips and pulled back with a smile, “we have a winner,” he had said. They knew right at that moment that Renjun was a friend they needed around. 

"Haechan?" Lucas raises an eyebrow. 

"It's my nickname because I'm so sunkissed and a fucking beacon of light." Donghyuck smiles. 

“Ah,” Lucas hums. “My name is a nickname too, kind of. More like a fake name but it works.” 

“What’s your real name then?” Renjun asks as if he didn't get knee-deep in the possible origins of the names in Lucas' Instagram bio. 

“My Canto name is Yukhei but my mandarin name is Xuxi.”

“Xuxi is such a cute name!” Jaemin practically squeals. 

“Yeah, I guess. No one really calls me that except for Ten. Most of the time it's just Lucas or Yukhei." 

"He claims it doesn't fit his aesthetic but he's like the softest guy." 

Lucas side-eyes Jeno, "Don't ruin my street cred." 

"Yeah, the thousands of people who adore you would truly be disappointed when they know this is what you're like." 

"I question why we're friends every day." Mark groans. 

"Hey, have you guys been to that restaurant down the block before?" Lucas changes the topic.

"No, we really don't go out around here much." 

"We should go together! How does next Sunday sound?" 

The three exchange glances before Jaemin speaks up, "Yeah, sure. Sunday." 

Did they just agree to a date with their neighbors? Well, friend date. But still a date, nonetheless. 

It’s nearing midnight and the party doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. There were maybe about twenty people there but they managed to fill up the room with enough noise to account for five times as much. Not that it mattered to them much, hopefully it didn’t bother their neighbors too much, Everyone was buzzing fresh off of summer vacation still on that freedom high, catching up with one another. Yeri and Shuhua brought over a cooler of punch that probably had more alcohol in it than within legal means, but it was undeniably good therefore more dangerous and it had their guests feeling buzzed after half a cup. 

After losing a game of rock paper scissors, they determined that Donghyuck would be the one to remain nearly sober for the night. An absolute tragedy considering that Jaemin didn’t like drinking all too much and Renjun’s small size hindered how much he could drink. But someone had to be responsible in case anything went wrong and knowing their group of friends it was fairly easy for things to go wrong. He’s already had to stop Shuhua from running out of their apartment barefoot, prevented Jinyoung from tripping down the stairs despite telling everyone to use the bathroom on the ground floor, and stopped Felix from throwing a punch at San for beating him in a game of flip cup.. 

He makes his rounds around the party another time making sure that everyone is not past their limits. They’re more mellowed out now Donghyuck has fed them with dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. Food and alcohol was the perfect combination to satiate college students. He finds a familiar pair of people cozied up on the couch devouring each other.

“Hey, hey hey, we’re supposed to be hosts here.” Donghyuck jokingly scolds, his arms crossed in front of him and his hip jutted out. 

It takes a few moments longer before the words register and they disconnect, a trail of saliva connecting them. 

Even under the dim colorful fairy lights in the room, he could see the red flush of Renjun’s cheeks. “You know, if you wanted some kisses too you could just ask. I’m not selfish.” Renjun makes no attempt at removing himself from Jaemin’s lap.

“Is that our Donghyuck?” Jaemin coos, his eyes barely open. “Our beautiful Donghyuck. Doesn’t he look so pretty tonight with the eyeshadow and the outfit?” 

“Donghyuck is always pretty. How dare you?” Renjun weakly drops a fist on Jaemin’s chest, in what Donghyuck could only assume was an attempt at a punch. 

“I appreciate the compliments, truly, but no more drinks please.” 

Jaemin gasps, “Oh my god, it’s Hyuck. I love you Hyuck.” 

“I don’t doubt it. The next time you guys come up for air, take a sip of water. Okay?” Donghyuck places two small water bottles on the arm of the couch near them. 

“Whatever you say. Can I go back to making out with Jaemin, please?” 

“Knock yourself out, Jun.” 

Things start dwindling down around two am. He puts his friends that insist on going home into ubers. He sets the few remaining up in the living room with pillows and blankets for their comfort. He finds Renjun and Jaemin right where he left them earlier, curled on each other sleeping. 

“Hey,” Donghyuck lightly taps their shoulders to stir them awake. Jaemin’s eyes blink open first, Renjun groans with his eyes still closed. “The party is pretty much done if you guys want to head upstairs to your room.” 

“Sorry for falling asleep.” Jaemin apologizes. 

“Don’t worry about it. Just head upstairs.” 

“Can we sleep in your bed?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be up in a bit.” Jaemin scoops Renjun up in his arms easily, heading toward the stairs. 

Donghyuck looks over the room once more to make sure that there were no immediate hazards in the event any drunk person woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. He heads up to his room to find the pair spooning on his bed, their jeans tossed in a pile on the floor. At least they had the decency to take off their pants, their face, on the other hand, will revolt at the makeup that they’ve left on their face. Donghyuck sheds his own clothes off, throwing on an oversized shirt. After a quick removal of his eye makeup, Donghyuck snuggles up to Renjun’s front, falling fast asleep. 

"Hey Jun, want to make out?" He glances over at his bedroom doorway to find Jaemin standing there with a pout on his face. He looks extraordinarily soft tonight having emerged from the shower a couple of minutes ago. The maroon hoodie that he's wearing practically devours him, the tips of his fingers barely  peeking out of the sleeves.

"What?" Renjun raises an eyebrow at him, "Hyuck, said no already?"

That was the nature of their relationship. Donghyuck was the go-to for Jaemin when Jaemin didn't want to walk outside of the house to get some affection from, because Donghyuck was almost always down for anything Jaemin could possibly propose. And when Hyuck wasn't down for Jaemin's antics, he turned to Renjun. Now Renjun didn't mind playing second fiddle to Haechan in Jaemin's eyes because Hyuck was his favorite to mess around with anyway. [He'd never admit that out loud to the other man] 

"Yeah, he said something about doing some project on Excel. As if a fucking grid is more entertaining than me." Jaemin scoffs. 

Renjun shouldn't have procrastinated this assignment or he wouldn't have had to pass up on Jaemin's enticing proposal. "Sorry to break it to you hot stuff, but I have a paper due just before midnight so it'll be a pass from me."

"Why won't anyone make out with me?!" Jaemin groans so loud, Renjun is sure their neighbors could hear it. Jaemin thrived off of receiving affection from other people and that's why he had Donghyuck made a good match. Their naturally clingy nature fueled each other. 

"Couldn't you like I don't know call Young Mi for a quick booty call or something?" 

"I could but I want dick right now, man." 

"Oh. Well, sorry for your dilemma, Jaem. Can't help you."

"The next time you ask me to fuck, I'm gonna remember this. All I wanted was a kiss." Renjun finds Jaemin pouting.

He shrugs, "I could always go to Hyuck, anyways. In case you haven't noticed, he never says no to me." Undeniably, Donghyuck was extra soft for Renjun in ways that he refused to be with Jaemin. 

"This is unfair!"

"Shut the fuck up, Jaemin." 

"When I shrivel up and die tonight because of lack of affection just know that this is your fault." 

"I'd write you an amazing eulogy." Renjun blows a kiss in Jaemin's direction, the middle finger that he throws back is nothing short of instantaneous.

"Hey, guys." Jeno greets them first as they approach. They meet up outside of their townhouse at seven pm on the dot. "We should get walking before it starts raining." 

"We would have been out here earlier had Jaemin not needed to perfectly coif his hair." The man had shuffled through at least seven outfits and spent at least fifteen minutes fiddling with his hair before settling on the current combination. 

"It looks good so I guess it was worth it?" Mark offered a compliment. 

Jaemin grins, "See, someone appreciates my craft." 

"Maybe you should move in with them instead." Renjun suggests, the smile on Jaemin's face falling. 

"Are you guys looking for a roommate? No one appreciates me in the household."

"Sorry, no availability." 

"Looks like you're stuck with us." Donghyuck wraps an arm around Jaemin's shoulder, forcefully pulling him down to height. "You'd be nothing without us Jaem." 

"You think much too highly of yourself." 

The restaurant is no more than a five-minute walk away. A small place that couldn't hold any more than twenty people. Probably not the most ideal place with six college students with loud personalities. They're seated fairly quickly. 

Donghyuck can't decide if sitting across from Mark is a blessing or a curse. He doesn't consider himself to be the pining type, in fact the only person he knows that is more direct than himself is sitting right next to him. He's been told in the past that his type was guys that looked innocent so that Donghyuck could ruin them. In his defense, all of his innocent-looking exes ended up being not so innocent without Donghyuck probing. He wonders what Mark would be like in bed. Okay, maybe he was getting ahead of himself. 

"It's kind of crazy we've never run into each other on campus, especially during the first two years." Lucas muses. "All of us science nerds had to have taken gen chem and then the horrid organic chemistry. I still have night terrors because of that class." 

"I never went to class the first semester of college and then when we met Renjun he forced me to take all of the earlier classes with him." Jaemin explains. In his defense, classes during his first year of college was even easier than high school so why would he go to class when he could skim through the class recording later. 

"Oh no. Eight ams were an absolute no for me. I was on the basketball team freshmen year and we had a lot of early training sessions. If my classes weren't at least midday, the chances of me going were slim." That explained the sporty pictures on Lucas' Instagram. 

"You were on the basketball team? Sporting events aren't really our thing." 

"I quit after a year because I needed to focus on my program but it was fun at the time. Now I just go to the gym with Jeno." 

"Maybe you guys should take Jaemin. He's the only active person in our house." 

"So now you're auctioning me off." 

"Dude, I wouldn't hesitate to sell you for like two dollars." That brings a laugh out of Jeno and Mark. 

"We should exchange you for Mark."

"Hey, I object to this trade!" 

"Sorry, majority rules Marky." 

Okay this wasn't fair. These guys couldn't be this dashing  _ and _ get along with them so well. This wasn't some fairy tale, these guys were real and tangible. And if they hadn't been neighbors perhaps Jaemin and Donghyuck could muster up the courage to be more bold. What they didn't need was a letter from their landlord demanding that they evacuate the premises for harassing other residents. But things must be going okay considering they were sitting around in a circle on their living room floor over beers that Jeno grabbed from their apartment.

"What were you guys like in high school?" Renjun asks.

"I went to a catholic private school," Jaemin glances over at Donghyuck, offering an empathetic smile. By no means did Mark being catholic mean that he was homophobic but it did increase the likelihood. "And that was probably one of the most unholy places I've ever been in. Came out of there very much not Catholic but still vaguely Christian."

"How'd your parents react to that?" 

"My parents weren't even Catholic so I don't know why they subjected me to that in the name of education. It's no wonder that a bunch of kids who go to those schools end up non-religious." 

"Mark says a little prayer before each meal. It's cute." Lucas gives a dorky grin. Mark blushes a bit, slapping Lucas on the shoulder. “In high school, I was very focused on sports. It made a lot of people upset that I was oblivious of any advances people made toward me.” 

“Ah so you were the big man in school?” Renjun chuckles. 

“I acknowledge that I was well-liked and could use that to my advantage if I wanted to; however, I didn’t really do that until college.”

"Wow, what gentleman." Renjun laughs sarcastically.

"By that, Lucas means that he was a fuck boy freshmen year." Jeno interjects, Lucas pouts. "Well-liked, on the basketball team, and in one of the most popular frats on campus? That's like the trifecta of what it takes."

"For what it's worth, I've grown a lot since then." Lucas defends.

"Do you want to expose yourself or should we Jeno?"

"There isn't much to say about me in high school. I was lanky and had huge glasses. I still have huge glasses but I wear contacts half the time now. I was a nerd really. Fairly under the radar. Plus I had a girlfriend for most of high school." A girlfriend. Well, that wasn't good for Jaemin. 

"You guys?" 

"Jaemin and I were peas in a pod. Causing a ruckus. I was into theater and I dragged Jaemin with me a lot. He says that he hated it but I think he had fun."

"Debatable. Honestly for as much as we didn't go to class, we should have done much worse in school." 

"That's because we're likable."

"They're actually just annoying." Renjun inputs. 

"Screw you Huang." Donghyuck curses. 

Jaemin flips over to wrap his arms around Renjun's torso, mushing their faces together. "He actually loves us." 

Renjun promptly shoves the other man off before answering, "I was pretty quiet in high school. I did a lot of art, skipped class a lot. High school wasn't my thing but I really enjoy learning here." 

"I feel you. No one expects me to be in PT considering my history. I may not be the smartest but I work my ass off to be here." 

"We're so proud of you son."

"Fuck off."

“By the way, did you guys have a party on Friday? We heard music but we weren't sure."

"Shit. Were we too loud? Sorry." 

"No, you guys weren't too loud. Where was our invite? I thought that we were friends." 

"Sorry, maybe for the next one?" There wouldn't be a next one or at least they weren't planning to have a next one any time soon. Not for the lack of wanting to but mostly because of the disdain of waking up to a trashed house and having to clean.

"We're kidding. Just curious. You guys don't seem like the party type." 

"That's where you're wrong. We love parties, just not your kind. We go clubbing a lot." 

"I feel like saying that's surprising would be rude but like seriously kind if surprising."

"Believe it or not this trio is kind of wild."

"We'll have to see it for ourselves one day."

"Oh it's hilarious. When Renjun gets drunk he somehow gets more aggressive and becomes a flight risk. When we were in freshmen year this guy bolted from a party and I had to follow him, I kid you not, he ran at least a mile. Who knew little legs could carry a little body so far." Jaemin recounts, earning him a punch to his side from Renjun. It was a moment that Jaemin never let Renjun live down, a story to be told for the next few decades. 

"Don't make me expose you. I know too much." 

"Don't be embarrassed about it. Once when we lived in the frat house Mark got so drunk at our party that he literally wouldn't let go of me." Lucas laughs. "I brought him to his room because he was out of it. I left the room for two seconds to get him water, I come back and he's gone. I end up finding him crying in my bed talking about how much he misses me." 

"That is actually utterly adorable." 

Mark shrugs cooly, unaffected by the recount of an embarrassing moment that most would rather forget. "I'm an affectionate drunk." 

The night goes on like that. Them exchanging stories, getting to better understand each other. When the other boys decide it's time to head out, it's well past midnight. 

Jaemin plops down on the couch with a sigh, "How do I get Jeno to let me suck his dick?" 

"You could try asking him like a normal person. It's worked out well for you this far." 

"Okay but," Jaemin drags out the syllable, "I don't even know if he likes guys." 

"You could also try asking?" 

"We just started being friends, can't drop the whole 'do you like dick and can I suck yours?' I'm looking for longevity here. Plus if I ruin things with one roommate, that pretty much blows your chances too." 

"This is so dumb." 

"We are so dumb."

"They are so cute."

Jaemin's phone vibrates in his pocket, he pulls it out to read the little text. 

_ Instagram: XuxiW_88 has followed you _

"Oh my god, Lucas followed me on Instagram."

"Why you? I'm cuter than you." Renjun whines. 

"I'm the only one with a public Instagram account here." Jaemin by all accounts was popular, not to the same degree as Lucas but still commendable at just over 10k followers. Jaemin was actually a fan of photography so his feed was mostly aesthetic pictures and an occasional selfie. Renjun was on there a lot, never shying away from Jaemin's lens. Donghyuck less so, often refusing to keep a straight face whenever Jaemin pointed his camera in Donghyuck's direction. They were fun for memories, not so much for his Instagram. 

"Is this permission for us to follow each other now?" 

"Does this make us friends?" 

"Phase one, friendship. Phase two, boyfriend." 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer to post than I intended but by '00 fic fest fic takes priority for now. Sorry that I didn't respond to comments on the first chapter yet, will get on that soon~ Thank you for reading

Donghyuck thought that there couldn't be any possible way that Mark could become more attractive to him, but he was wrong. It took Mark a whole day to respond to their follow requests but it was worth it. Like they predicted, Mark had just gotten into the idea of posting on Instagram. Despite the oldest picture on his profile being five years old, the majority of the posts came within the last year. He would best describe him as cute. Donghyuck didn't normally go for cute, other than Renjun of course. He normally when for men that were tall, broad, and muscular. Everything that Mark wasn't.

 _My best friends insist that I post more so here's to that._ The caption that turned the tide on his Instagram. It's a stupid selfie where he's throwing up the peace sign, only to slide to the second picture of the trio trying to look cool.

"Okay, but look at how fucking cute he is." Donghyuck turns his phone around so that Renjun could see the video of Mark strumming away at a guitar in plain clothing, a hoodie pulled over his head with his glasses, singing Edge of Desire by John Mayer. _My brother showed me this song years ago and I still love it. Haven't felt this way in a minute._

"Your weakness, boys who play guitar." Renjun knew him too well. Luckily for Donghyuck despite mingling in the theater department there weren't too many guys there that could play guitar, therefore his weakness was safe. "I can't fault you. I literally scrolled to the bottom of Lucas' profile."

"Hey, guys." Yangyang greets. He and Jaemin slide into the seats next to them. Jaemin still has the eyeliner from earlier smudged across his eyelids.

"Done with the photoshoot?" Renjun and Donghyuck were on set earlier but as soon as their part was done, they ditched Jaemin to go get food as any good friends would.

Yangyang nods excitedly, "Yep, Jaemin is gonna look so dope. You guys will look good too." Every year the photography department held a showcase for their students. Like any other broke student who couldn’t afford to hire models for their piece, Yangyang enlisted the help of some of his most photogenic friends and bribed them with the offer of food.

Yangyang peaks over Donghyuck's shoulder, "Are you looking at Mark's Instagram?"

Donghyuck scrambles, turning his screen off, "You know Mark?"

"Yeah, we play basketball together sometimes."

Jaemin, Renjun, and Donghyuck’s eyes connect across the table before Jaemin speaks, "so that means you know Jeno and Lucas too?"

"Yeah,” Yangyang drags the word out, raising an eyebrow at his friend, “why?"

"They're our neighbors." Renjun answers simply. There was no way to admit to social media stalking without sounding weird as fuck unless your friends happened to be in on it.

"Really? That's rad. So when we were at your party the other day they were a wall away?" They nod. Yangyag continues, "Have you met yet? They're really good guys."

"Yeah. You could even say that we're acquaintances."

"You know it's actually super weird that you guys haven't met before this because Hendery and I are super close to them." Yangyang ponders.

"So quick, inconsequential question." Jaemin leans over in Yangyang's direction, fingers inching up Yangyang's arm, "Do you happen to know if any of them have any sort of propensity towards dick?"

Yangyang chokes a bit on his sandwich, "huh? Have you tried asking them?"

Jasmin pouts, batting his eyelashes and playing up the puppy dog eyes as best as he can, "Why can't you just tell me?"

"When has not knowing ever stopped you from pursuing someone before?"

"Okay, I'm tired of the narrative that I just hunt down whoever I want and take them. Everything I've done has been done with the utmost respect and consent. I'm not a heathen."

"We know Jaem." They assure him. It has always been a soft spot for Jaemin, the idea that he'd be viewed as a bad person because of his choice to sleep around. He may have cried more than once about it in the comfort of his best friend's arms but he wasn't going to change on a whim because of what strangers thought he did. He knew that he treated the people he pursued well and he laid out his conditions leaving little room to be called an asshole unless someone wanted to spread pure lies.

"There are larger stakes here okay. If I blow it with Jeno that effectively makes Renjun and Donghyuck's chances with Lucas and Mark nearly obsolete. And I can't do that to them okay."

Yangyang blinks, "You guys like Lucas and Mark?"

Donghyuck crosses his arms in front of him, mildly glaring, "Honestly, I'm upset that you never introduced us when you know that Mark is a real-life version of all of my way dreams." Maybe not all of his dreams physically, but personality-wise Mark hit the nail on the head.

"Sorry I don't go about scheduling friend dates so that my friend groups can overlap. You guys always throw the parties so I wasn't going to go out of my way to invite people you don't know."

"Excuses, excuses." Renjun tsks.

"Not to mention you guys are always acting like a couple so how was anyone to know that you were looking for relationships elsewhere?"

"People think that we're dating?"

"Maybe not dating. But are you surprised that people think that something more is going on between you three?"

"We're just friends." If romantic feelings were going to develop between any combination of them, any time over the last three years would have sufficed. It was a point brought up amongst the three of them since whatever this was started if anyone caught feelings it'd stop immediately.

Not to mention there have been moments where everything sexual between them stopped. That time Donghyuck dated a senior in their first year. That guy turned out to be an asshole and Renjun gave him a piece of his mind when Donghyuck ended things because Donghyuck didn't have the strength to tear him apart from himself. Or that time Renjun dated Junhui his sophomore year. The only reason they broke up was that Junhui was graduating and moving across the country to get a job.

"Yes, I know that. Your friends know that. But anyone outside of that, not so much."

"But now that you know we're interested in them can't you just give us a little bit of information?"

"Absolutely not, it'll be hilarious to see this unfold. Just talk to them."

 _Just talk to them_ , Yangyang said as if it was an easy thing to do. It took Yangyang an entire semester to broach the subject of dating with Hendery and they were friends. Now he expected them to just be bold with their neighbors? No way in hell.

"This is uncharted territory. My whole mouth just goes dry whenever Jeno is around." The trio is standing in line at their favorite coffee shop. Jaemin ran into Jeno and Lucas earlier in the day, Jeno extending an offer to work out together some time. "I, the Na Jaemin, nervous because of a boy? The world is ending. What have I become?"

"Do you really want us to answer that?"

"No. You should go with me to the gym, Renjun." Jaemin grabs onto Renjun's arm, a pout on his lips, and batting his lashes. "Not only will your presence bring me confidence but you'll be able to see Lucas all hot and sweaty, sweat rolling over his bulging muscles just glistening."

Renjun shrugs him off, grimacing, "What the fuck are you? An erotica novelist?"

"If you saw what I saw this morning you'd understand my pain." Jaemin whines. If he could say so himself, his own body was nothing to be ashamed of, but he couldn't drool over himself. He wasn't nearly that narcissistic. Men wore muscle tees and shorts to show off to other men, and who would Jaemin be if he didn't take notice of something served on a platter to him.

"You take him." Renjun shoves Jaemin in Donghyuck's direction, "only you can deal with him when he gets like this."

Hyuck shakes his head, "I don't want him."

"I'm literally buying you guys coffee, you should love me."

"I would literally buy myself coffee every day if it meant I didn't have to deal with you."

"My feelings are hurt." They order their drinks on Jaemin's dime anyways.

The bell atop the door jingles, letting new guests in. It's the voice that first cues them in. Lucas. His voice could be recognizable from a mile away with how loud he was. Trailing closely behind him are Jeno and Mark.

"Stay fucking calm." Renjun slaps Donghyuck's arm.

Donghyuck recoil. Rolling his eyes, "Yes, because you're the epitome of calm right now, Jun."

"Hey, Renjun!" Lucas greets them first from the line. "Fancy seeing you guys here."

"I'm beginning to think that our fates are tied together at this point." Jaemin jokes.

Lucas laughs, "Doesn't sound too bad to me."

"I was actually trying to convince Renjun to go with me to the gym next time."

"Not Donghyuck?"

"The last time I brought Hyuck to the gym I ended up with a sprained ankle. So we're not doing that again."

"How were you the one to end up hurt?"

"I live with scary people. Protect me! Don’t let their small size fool you.”

"Are you guys free right now? We can grab a table and talk for a bit."

"Yeah, that sounds great. We'll go grab a table." They grab their drinks and shuffle to a table fit for six.

"Don't embarrass me, okay," Jaemin says as they scoot into a booth.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that you can do a good job of that on your own." Donghyuck teases, sipping on his iced coffee.

Renjun snorts, “We’ll be sure to pick your jaw off the ground for you when he sits in front of you.”

“How have you guys been since we last saw you?” It hasn’t been that long since their dinner and subsequent hang out, a little over a week.

“Jaemin’s been thinking about what he can make for you guys next. It’s stressing me out.” Jaemin didn’t half-ass anything. If he couldn’t impress, he wouldn’t try. And this baking competition would be taken to the end.

"We definitely can't keep up with you. Slow down."

"I'm a stress baker, remember? Besides, now we actually have people to give the extra too. Now Hyuck won't be able to blame me for gaining one-tenth of a pound as opposed to a lack of self-control."

"So you'll just fatten us up instead?"

"Yeah, a little fat on your bones will make y'all more delicious to eat. Plus with how much you guys hit the gym, I should've started fattening you up like last year."

"The one flaw in your plan is that Mark can't even do a single push up and yet stays just like that."

"You don't have to diss me to make your point." Mark rolls his eyes.

"It's every man for themselves out here, Mark Lee."

"Oh that reminds me, we were playing ball with Yang the other day and he mentioned you guys. I didn't know that you guys knew each other."

"Yeah, we were surprised too when he mentioned it. Crazy how much our worlds overlapped and yet we didn't meet until this semester."

"Another surprising thing," Donghyuck turns his attention toward Mark, "I didn't know that you sang, Mark Lee."

A blush creeps on his cheeks, "I don't, not really. Mostly just guitar as a hobby."

"Your Instagram says otherwise, I'm very impressed."

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you." A smile blooms on his face, poking at his drink with a straw. "You know since you do theater and have actual singing talent."

"We could do a duet, I can't play guitar for shit."

"That'd be dope, yeah." He didn't expect Mark to agree easily, but now Donghyuck had an in to actually get to know the other man. More progress than Jaemin had made, even more than Renjun but he wasn't even trying.

"Speaking of Instagram, Lucas, you're practically a model. What the heck dude?" It should be Renjun talking with Lucas, but Renjun is never the best with words. Donghyuck nudges the elder under the table, hopefully prompting him to engage in the conversation

"Nah, it's really nothing, just for fun." Lucas shrugs, rubbing his nape, "I don't make any money from it or anything because I don't do ads, but the attention is cool."

"And believe me, we know that he makes no money off of it because we haven't seen a penny of it despite being the ones to take ninety-nine percent of his pictures." Jeno bumps shoulders with Lucas.

"I think that my friendship is enough of a payment."

"Your Instagram is cool too Jaemin." Jeno compliments, eyes flicking from his drink to Jaemin's eyes, "Very professional looking. Photography is your thing?"

"A hobby. My uncle got me a camera a couple of years ago and I figured documenting college would be fun." Luckily, skills improved over time because when he started with photography he was garbage at it. But after investing in decent editing software and practicing he wasn't half bad.

Renjun side-eyes, "I don't get paid either for being his muse."

"I think I pay you more than enough with my love." Jaemin's smiles.

"Your love is cheap. We should form a union, Jeno."

"You should give me tips, Renjun. I haven't mastered the whole innocent and angelic look. Jaemin captures you beautifully." Renjun's face shines at Lucas' words.

Renjun can practically feel the red creeping onto his face. He's never been good at accepting compliments. "Oh, thanks. It's all Jaemin's camera."

"A face like Renjun's makes photography easy."

"The perfect muse." Lucas eyes Renjun, and Renjun looks back. It feels as if Lucas is studying him, from his overgrown roots to his nails that need a trim. Renjun feels seen in ways that he doesn't know if he likes. Seen in a way that only Jaemin and Donghyuck have made him feel which is why he keeps them around despite being platonic. It's too intense for something with too little meaning but Renjun isn't a coward that backs down, holding Lucas' gaze.

Mark breaks the atmosphere with a laugh, "So, we're all just admitting openly that we Insta stalked each other?"

"You don't normally stalk people you've just befriended? How else are we supposed to know if you guys are murderers or not?" Donghyuck follows, with a chuckle.

"Here Jun, try one of these before I pack them up for the neighbors." There's a dish shoved in his face before he even has the chance to turn in his seat. Jaemin stands there with an expectant smile on his face.

"What'd you make this time?" Renjun gladly accepts the cup filled with layered goodness.

"Brownie trifle layered with chocolate mousse and whipped cream. New recipe."

Jaemin's baking is as delicious as usual, "I could almost fall in love with you, Na Jaemin. Let's make a pact, if neither of us gets married by fifty, let's get hitched."

"Sorry babe. Hyuck would be my first choice."

Choosing to ignore that comment. Renjun continues, "Are you delivering it to them now?"

Jaemin raises an eyebrow, a smirk on his face, "Why? Want to come? See Lucas in all of his glory?"

"Don't mock me, it's not like you're not trying to see Jeno."

"You're right. I am trying to see Jeno, I'm just not afraid to say so unlike you."

"When have you ever known me to be afraid?"

"The moment a six-foot God stepped in front of you and presented himself as Wong Lucas. Sorry, that I was two inches too short to leave you awestruck."

"In more ways than one."

"Not the time to be making dick jokes when my dick has left you speechless in many ways before. You coming or not?"

Of course, Renjun didn't fall far behind Jaemin, "is Hyuck home?"

"Would the house be this silent if he was?"

"You literally never shut up, Jaemin."

"Hyuck's at some theater thing. I don't know when he'll be back and I'm not waiting around for him either."

"He'll be super mad at you when he finds out you went to see Mark without him."

"I'll give him a big fat kiss to make up for it. No big deal."

Much to Jaemin's disappointment, it's Lucas that opens the door. He registers the tray in Jaemin’s hands before he has a chance to look at them. His eyes widen before they crease into a smile.

Renjun presents, "Hello, next exchange in the bake war."

"You guys work way too fast." Lucas accepts the tray of sweets graciously, “This looks so good. What is it?’

“It’s brownies layered with whipped cream and chocolate mousse.”

“Are you secretly in pastry school?”

“No, just participated in too many bake sales as a kid.” Jaemin peers over Lucas' shoulder to look into the house, "Does Jeno happen to be home?"

"No, sorry to disappoint. It's just me. But he should be back in a couple of hours if you want a redo."

"No, it's fine.” Jaemin deflates, barely unable to hide his disappointment. “I forgot to ask, did you guys have any allergies that I should be aware of before I end up in jail for involuntary manslaughter?"

"No allergies. But Mark can be a bit of a picky eater though. You guys don't have any allergies either?"

"Nope,” Renjun confirms, adding on with an awkward laugh, ”we eat almost everything and anything in sight."

"Dope, I'll be sure to let Jeno know." Lucas smiles. “How have you guys been? One of my friends in nursing told me that he had three exams on top of clinicals last week. Sounds like hell.”

"Definitely not one of the best weeks in my academic career but unfortunately also not the worst. I don't know what exactly that says about nursing school." There have been weeks where he's had an exam every day of the week. He lived solely on cold brew and the will to live. And maybe he was also delivered food by Donghyuck and Renjun to make sure he didn't skip meals. It's surprisingly easy to ignore your well being when running on pure adrenaline and the fear of failure.

"What about you, Renjun?" Lucas turns his attention to Renjun. Maybe Lucas was just one of those attentive guys that looked at everyone like they mattered in the sphere of his life. Jaemin was cursed with the same ailment. "I haven't seen you guys since we ran into each other at the coffee shop. Hopefully, you haven't been suffering nearly as much."

"Just the normal amount of suffering. Nothing out of the ordinary.'

"Hopefully you get to relax now and then. I'm sure that Jaemin's baking helps a little."

"Jaemin is more of a pain in my ass than a stress reliever." Jaemin snorts at the double entendre but keeps any further comments to himself.

"I'm sure that he can't be that bad."

"I can assure you that I'm not that bad. In fact, I believe that my mother would describe me as the light of her life."

"I've tried to tell her how wrong she is but she doesn't seem to listen to my advice."

"Wow, you guys must be really close to each other if you can joke around with his mom like that," Lucas observes.

"I guess."

"We should get going. We probably interrupted whatever you were doing before."

"Oh yeah, right. Thanks again."

“I don’t get why you don’t just jump his bones," Jaemin says the moment they're safely within the walls of their apartment.

"That would be rude."

"He looks at you like he wants to eat you."

Renjun rolls his eyes, "That's conducive to murder, not romance."

"There's like a three-degree separation between the two Renjun!" Jaemin wails. "That's your problem. You can never tell if someone is into you unless you're drunk or they're throwing themselves at you."

"Then that makes Lucas and I a match made in heaven. I'm going back to do my work."

“I cannot believe I let you convince me to come here.” Renjun begrudgingly follows Jaemin into the gym. There were exactly two places on campus that Renjun on-campus gym. As far as Renjun was concerned it was just a cesspool for germs and the hotspot for bros. That is the precise reason why he had a membership for a gym off-campus so he didn’t have to deal with those people.

“You have to find them in their natural habitat.”

“What the fuck are you? Na Jaemin the dick hunter?” All he needed was a safari hat and his look would be complete.

“I prefer the dick whisperer but sure the dick hunter works.” Over time, he's almost perfected his technique at finding a willing partner. He's never used it for relationships but the present couldn't be all too different.

“How do you even know that they’re going to be here?”

“Well, Jeno and Lucas always go to the gym on Thursdays at noon together because that’s the only time their class schedules overlap enough that they’re able to go to the gym and then shower.”

“That is borderline stalkerish, Jaem.”

“I also saw them leave the apartment complex like twenty minutes ago in gym attire.” He sing-songs.

"And that somehow makes you less creepy, how?"

Jaemin clamps his hands down on Renjun's shoulders, giving them a light squeeze, "You've got to risk it for the biscuit, Renjun. Now what we're going to do is find them so that you can show Lucas how hot your legs look in those short shorts."

"Alright, coach. Put me in."

They're not too hard to spot, or well Jaemin's pastel blue hair isn't too easy to ignore even for people in the zone during their workouts. They're at the bench press, Jeno spotting Lucas in the middle of his set. His eyes flicker up once, the blue hair attracting his attention briefly before returning his focus to Lucas only for his face to turn up again at the recognition.

"Jaemin! Renjun!" He sounds surprised to see them there.

"Let's get our boys." Jaemin whispers, nudging Renjun forward.

"Fancy seeing you guys here on this wonderful Thursday afternoon." Natural Huang Renjun. You're supposed to be acting natural.

"I feel like we should be saying that to you." Lucas sits up, running a hand through his hair. And no, Renjun absurdly did not steal a glance at his muscles. He would never. "You don't strike me as the type to lift?"

"Cardio is more my thing, you know? Heart health." Definitely natural.

"And Jaemin's gonna teach you how to lift?"

"Unlikely. Jaemin tends to get hyper fixated on himself when he's working out."

"I take offense to that statement."

"I can show you the ropes if you want." Lucas offers. "So that you don't injure yourself, you know. Exercise science degrees you know."

Renjun is a liar. A good enough liar to fool Lucas. He isn't completely unknowledgeable when it comes to lifting weights, it's the precise reason that he's able to keep lean muscle on. And Jaemin has helped him more than enough to learn proper form so that he doesn't get hurt Jaemin might be too easily distracted. There were too many times that they ended up fucking in the shower after a workout because of how enticing Jaemin found Renjun's body to be. And Renjun hates shower sex, but Jaemin could be very convincing when he wanted to be.

"That would be great! See Jaemin, this is what friendship is like."

"But who's going to spot me now, Injunnie?"Jaemin pouts, turning to Jeno.

"Uh yeah, I can spot you!" Jeno stutters.

"Perfect!"

"So you want to start low and slow with the weight. You could overexert your muscles if you start with too high of a weight." Lucas explains as they head over to the free dumbbells. The gym isn't packed, the perks of going in the middle of the day.

"Okay." Renjun nods.

"Do you want to focus on building strength or toning your body?"

"I'm stronger than I look, so toning I guess." Lucas grins at his words, "hey don't laugh! Get me angry and even someone your size wouldn't be able to get in my way!"

"I trust you. So for toning, you want to use lighter weights and do more reps in each set.'

"Alright. Is ten pounds okay?" Renjun grabs the ten-pound weight comfortably but if he was playing up the novice weightlifter role, ten pounds would have to do.

"Any weight is okay as long as you're not feeling too strained as you move. Some strain is okay, that's how your muscles rebuild to become stronger. But too much is an injury, and that leads to setbacks."

"Alright. Show me a move."

"Depends on what groups of muscles you want to work. Is it alright if I touch you? Consent is huge within PT." Lucas circles around him, a shark in his own National Geographic documentary.

"Yeah, go for it."

Lucas places one hand on his shoulder, "So these are your deltoids which you can target using something like a shoulder press." Lucas' hand moves further down his arm. "Then you have your biceps and your triceps which you use synergistically." Then his hands are on his shoulder blades, "then we have your lats and rear deltoids. People tend to focus on their biceps without training their other muscle groups so everything ends up looking disproportionate."

"Proportionality, yes, important."

"Sorry to bore you. I get really passionate about this stuff. PT aside, I just really like working out."

"No, it's fine really! I could probably talk your ear off about pharmaceuticals or research and you'd be bored out of your mind."

"There's only one way to prove that theory."

"That being?"

"We can study together." If this were some shitty coming of age movie, Renjun would stutter out a " _like a date?"_ But Renjun is a realist and fantasies only made people more delusional. "Just answer your Instagram DMs and we can set something up."

"Sure! Back to the work out though."

"Fine. So I'll show you a hammer curl then into a shoulder press as a superset to work more than one muscle group."

"So how did things go with Jeno?" He asks once they're alone in Jaemin's car.

"Either he's stupid or straight and I don't know which outcome is worse." Jaemin laments. "I put on my best flirty moves and he's completely unaffected."

"I'm sure him being straight would be worse."

"No, if he were straight we could still be friends. If he were stupid I wouldn't know how to tolerate him."

"Maybe he's just the type of person that's oblivious to a person's advancements unless it's written out plain and simple." Renjun reasons.

"The only way I can get more obvious is if I put his dick in my mouth and I know that that is not what you're recommending."

"No Jaem, it is not."

"What about you and Lucas?"

"We have plans to study together later."

Jaemin's jaw hangs open, head shifting between Renjun and the road, "Like as a _date date_ or as friends?"

"It was a vague invitation." Renjun shrugs.

"How are you making more progress than me?"

"Because Lucas is even more direct than you are."

Jaemin clicks his tongue, "I should've gone after him instead."

"Is that Lee Donghyuck, the platonic love of my life?" Donghyuck is standing at the kitchen island when they return home. After kicking off his shoes, Jaemin merrily skips over to plant a kiss on his cheek.

Donghyuck shies away from any future assault, "Ew, you're so sweaty. Don't touch me."

"You've held me through worse." Jaemin whines, trying to hold the other boy closer.

A firm pinch to Jaemin's side forces him away, "Did you guys go to the gym? Together?"

"Dick hunting actually." Renjun clarifies.

Donghyuck snorts, "And did you catch anything nice? Hopefully no diseases."

"Renjun has scored himself a date with Lucas." Jaemin sing-songs, grabbing two bottles of Gatorade from the fridge, tossing one of them to Renjun.

Return quickly denies, "Not a date." Renjun wasn't a mind reader by any means, admittedly he got pretty close when it came to Jaemin or Donghyuck. He lived by a simple principle. Unless explicitly stated, he would not act based on assumptions. It's served him pretty well thus far and has saved him more times than once from acting a fool based on some narrative he built in his head.

"Nice Injunnie! And you Jaemin?"

Jasmin groans, "I'm like sixty-five percent sure that dude is as straight as a board."

"On the bright side, there's still a thirty-five percent chance that he isn't."

"Maybe he gets nervous around pretty boys with cute smiles?"

Jaemin tilts his head, a hand resting under his chin in the flower pose, "Oh my God, you think that I'm pretty?"

"Fuck off, Na."

"How can he be afraid of pretty boys when he's a literal pretty boy? That eye smile is practically unfair." Jaemin huffs. "Boys are stupid."

"You're a boy."

"And clearly I am stupid so my point remains. Renjun, help me dye my hair. I'm going through a crisis."

"Are you sure that you're not in theater? You're more dramatic than Hyuck."

"Are you going to help me or not?"

"Of course. I would not pass up any opportunity to potentially inconsequentially ruin your life." Renjun grins, bouncing on his heels.

"What about you and Mark, Hyuck? Any progress there?"

"Believe it or not the only cute boy that my life revolves around is me,” Donghyuck quips. “I'm trying a new approach. Let them come to me. Besides, I'm too busy focusing on my audition to be worried about him right now."

"And how is that going? I feel like I haven't seen you in ages." They should be used to Hyuck's hectic schedule during audition times but the lack of his presence could be felt through the house.

"What? You miss me or something Na?"

"Never."

"It's okay. I'm a little stressed out. Wanted to play guitar for my audition, then I remembered that I'm pretty trash at guitar so I quickly abandoned that idea."

"If you ever need help, let us know. I can't sing for shit but I can watch Injunnie hum along with you."

"Appreciate the offer but I'm fine. I'm actually gonna head out. Gotta practice. See y'all later. Don't burn Jaemin's scalp or burn his hair off, it’s like fifty percent of his charm."

“Hey!”

"No promises."

Renjun was at a loss. He couldn't even remove his eyes from his books for a second or he would be forced to look at Lucas. It was like he was back to being twelve years old where he couldn't function in the presence of someone he found attractive. He was supposed to have moved on from that place in his life but of course, back then he never had someone that looked like Lucas across from him.

He had a pharmacology exam to study for. Considering that pharmacology is the absolute bane of his existence this semester, he did need to study hard for this. The material couldn't teach itself and Renjun definitely couldn't focus enough to teach it to himself.

Renjun shoots up from his seat, his thigh banging into the table on the way up, “I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”

Lucas blinks up at him confused, “Okay.”

Renjun grabs his phone and scurries off to the bathroom. Determined, he heads to the last stall, typing in Donghyuck’s name to give him a call.

“Why are you calling me in the middle of your date?” Is the first thing Donghyuck says when he answers the phone.

“It’s not a date.”

“A study date is still a date. ‘Date’ is literally in the name.”

"You know what, I don't have the time to argue about this,” Renjun huffs. “Listen to me clearly, in twenty minutes I need you to call me back and pretend that you have some emergency you need me to come to help you with."

"Why? Is he not being a gentleman because I can just kick his ass."

"No, it's fine. I just actually need to study and I can't get anything done with him around."

"Awww is Injun smitten?"

"No. I can feel him looking at me and I can't focus under these conditions." Lucas is insanely nice. When they met up at the library, the taller man insisted on buying him a coffee. _Brain food_ , he called it. He was also super chatty, rattling off about anything that came to mind. Normally that wouldn't bother him much, he's studied through worse noises, it was Lucas' eyes that he couldn't stand.

"Have you considered telling him that?"

"No, that's embarrassing. Can you please just call me?"

"Yeah yeah yeah. Anything for you."

"You're the best." Renjun makes an audible kissing noise at his phone before hanging up and pocketing the phone.

"Is everything alright?" Lucas looks up at him with round eyes, the concern apparent on his face.

"Yeah, just an upset stomach. No big deal."

“I have tums in my bag if you need any.”

“No, no, it’s alright. I have some in my bag too. Overly prepared health profession majors.”

“Of course. Mark always pokes fun at me for having a pretty decked out med kit in my bag but I don’t see him complaining all the times he has hurt himself more than the average human.”

"I'll be okay, I think."

Right on time, Renjun's phone vibrates. "What's up Hyuck? I'm studying."

"Help Renjun, my friend is being a coward. What should I do?"

"Are you okay? Do you need me to come home?" Renjun ignores his words, putting on his best performance.

“If you want to.”

“I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”

“Is everything all right?” Lucas questions. The smaller man avoiding his gaze, the guilt keeping him from doing so.

“Yeah, uh Donghyuck just needs me right now so I have to go. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize! I get it.”

“I’ll see around, yeah?”

“Maybe not for studying?" Lucas suggests, his voice quivers a bit.

"Yeah, sure. That would be great." Renjun affirms.

"Message me when you get home."

"Yeah."

"Is everything alright?" Donghyuck is greeted by wide eyes when he settles back into the room.

"Yeah, sorry for going in and out. I promise you that I really appreciate your help." Donghyuck takes a seat next to Mark.

"It's fine. There's nothing wrong, right? We can always meet up later." The two times they’ve met up, Donghyuck quickly determined one thing. Markis an incredibly nice guy. Not the type of nice guy that did it just for show. A genuinely nice guy that made it nearly impossible to dislike. When Donghyuck presented the idea of playing the guitar for him during his audition, Mark didn’t hesitate to accept. So here they were in a random classroom the second night in a row discussing what Donghyuck wanted to use for auditions.

The problem with Mark being so nice is that Donghyuck wasn’t nearly that nice. He could be brash. H spoke bluntly, rarely ever holding his tongue. If he had complaints, he usually made it known. He didn’t consider himself to be a terrible person but he certainly wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea and he was okay with that.

"My friend is just being dumb as usual. Where were we?"

"Choosing between Paramore's The Only Exception or Amy Winehouse's Back to Black." Last night they filtered through hundreds of acoustic songs. Some that Mark vaguely knew the chords to others that he never considered learning.

"Right." Donghyuck hums, "Which one do you think I should do?"

"I don't know, they're both really good songs that can show off your vocal range. I haven't heard much of your singing other than the shows I've gone to so I don't know how deep your voice can get but if it's an option you're considering it must be okay. Do you know what show they're doing?"

"No. They hold blind auditions first and then offer you a call back to audition for specific roles. It's stupid but I guess it works for them."

"Hm, what if I learn some of the chords to each song and we can try it out?" Mark suggests.

"You can do that?"

"As long as the chords are available online, I should be able to." Mark grabs his phone, surfing through it, presumably looking for the chords.

"Do you have a favorite musical?" Donghuck asks, trying to pick up a conversation.

"Not really? I mean I enjoy theater but there isn't one that I've seen thousand times over, you know?"

"Ah."

"What about you?"

"Right now, I would say Waitress. It's not on Broadway anymore but it's so good. Ended too quickly."

"What's it about?"

"A waitress has an affair with her married doctor and she gets pregnant."

"Oh." The second thing he learns about Mark is that it’s relatively easy to fluster him. Almost too easy that it makes Donghyuck want to tease him just a bit. Anything slightly inappropriate would have the man blushing and avoiding Dognhyuck’s gaze. Of course, Donghyuck being the person he is, he loved it.

"I promise you it's hilarious. Much more than I thought going into it. And the soundtrack is awesome. I could send you the pirated version that I have and you can check it out yourself."

"Sounds illegal." Another thing Donghyuck noticed about Mark is that the other man tends to be almost too serious at times. It grows increasingly difficult for him to determine if he’s crossed some sort of boundary when it came to any of his jokes.

"Isn't life a little more fun with some danger involved?" Donghyuck shakes his shoulders, placing an emphasizing danger.

"No, my friends can usually convince me to get on a ride, but I tend to hate every second of it." Mark strums some notes that begin to sound familiar to Donghyuck’s ears.

"Aw, that's not fun." Donghyuck purses his lips.

"So I've heard but I also don't think the feeling of my guts coming out of my mouth is very fun."

"You must be adventurous in some other aspect of your life though, right?"

"Not really, no. I don't go out of my way to search for danger. I think my mom would kill me."

“Oh.”

“I must sound boring, huh? I promise I’m not. Thrill-seeking just isn’t my definition of fun.”

Donghyuck holds his palms up, signaling peace, “No judgment.”

“I’m feeling just slightly judged?”

“What do you like to do for fun then?”

“I like to write.” He says earnestly. “Wait, that doesn’t help my case.”

“No, that’s really cool,” Donghyuck assures. He never pegged Mark as a writer but it seemed to fit his pensive character. In the way that he didn’t express himself verbally, he uses a pen and paper to get his feelings across.

“I wanted to be an author when I was young.”

“And why didn’t you become that?”

“Practicality?” He offers. Donghyuck can sympathize. “I also like to dance. Those are my two main hobbies I guess. Maybe I am boring.”

“Seriously Mark, it’s awesome. Not everyone is talented in those areas.”

He hums, “I don’t know if I would call myself talented.”

“Well, you’d have to show me so I can verify it.” Donghyuck places the ball in Mark’s court for him to do with it whatever he pleases.

Mark’s head turns to him, meeting his expectant eyes. A blush creeps on to his face before turning back to his guitar, “Do you want to practice? I think I’ve got the chords down.”

“Oh,” He deflates, barely able to hide the disappointment in his voice, “right. Yeah, let’s practice.”

Donghyuck ends up choosing Back to Black as his audition song. He’s never used a darker sort of song for an audition before and his senior year seemed like the prime to try things out. Shortly after, they decide to back up for the night. It was getting late, and Donghyuck’s stomach may have embarrassingly growled once or twice.

“Do you need a ride back? Mark asks slinging his guitar case over his shoulder.

“No, I think I’ll just call Jaemin to pick me up.”

“Come on. We live a doorstep way from each other. I’ll give you a ride.”

Donghyuck doesn’t protest much more before accepting the offer. Mark doesn’t say much on the way back beside asking for his music preference for the aux. Donghyuck wonders if Mark is aware of the subtle rejection he gave Donghyuck or did his overt niceness cloud his judgment. Donghyuck certainly wouldn’t stick around long after crushing someone’s hopes and dreams.

“Did you hear my question?”

“Huh?” He snaps back to reality.

“I asked if you preferred to be called Donghyuck or Haechan. In my head, I’ve been calling you Donghyuck but I don’t know if that’s what you want to be called.”

“Am I occupying space in that head of yours, Mark Lee?” Mark doesn’t answer. “I’m just joking Lee. I don’t have much of a preference. You can call me whatever you’d like.”

“Okay.”

They fall into another bout of silence the rest of the way. Donghyuck leans over to turn the music up, drowning out the silence. Before long Mark pulls into the driveway, Dongyuck can’t get his seatbelt off fast enough.

“Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

“Good night, Dongyuck.” Mark seems to hesitate but doesn’t say any more.

“Good night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos/Comments (more on the comments) are very appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/_MarkSpark)
> 
> [Curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/_MarkSpark)

**Author's Note:**

> I love a good comment or a kudo to motivate me to continue despite my busy life. Thanks for reading!
> 
> I started somewhat using twitter for fandom related things as of recently because I followed some of my fave fic writers there. So follow me there if you want to be friends or chat~  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/_MarkSpark)


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